National Archives Building, Jakarta

National Archives Building
Gedung Arsip Nasional

National Archives Building in Jalan Gajah Mada
location within Jakarta
General information
Status Restored
Type Museum
Architectural style Old Indies style
Location Jakarta, Indonesia
Address Jalan Gajah Mada no. 111
Coordinates 6°9′14″S 106°49′1″E / 6.15389°S 106.81694°E / -6.15389; 106.81694Coordinates: 6°9′14″S 106°49′1″E / 6.15389°S 106.81694°E / -6.15389; 106.81694
Groundbreaking 1755[1]
Estimated completion 1760[2]
Design and construction
Architect anonymous

National Archives Building (Indonesian Gedung Arsip Nasional) is a museum in Jakarta, Indonesia. The building, formerly a late 18th-century private residence of Governor-General Reinier de Klerk, is one of the cultural heritage of Jakarta. The house is the archetypal Indies style houses of the earliest period.

History

The building in 1930s.

The history of the landhuis (Dutch "country house") of Reinier de Klerk on the Molenvliet West began with the purchase of land in 1755 by de Klerk. De Klerk was appointed as a Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies in 1777.[2] He was not very pleased with this appointment, describing it as “serving the mustard after the meat has been eaten.” Unlike most of the government officials during the time, de Klerk had a reputation for being incorruptible, more so because he had no necessity for corruption as he was married to the very wealthy Sophia Francina Westpalm in Batavia. Sophia was the daughter of Michiel Westpalm and of Gertruida Margaretha Goossens. Gertruida Goossens was known for her beauty, and she married three times to rich husbands who all predeceased her. Sophia was heiress to the accumulated fortune and thus de Klerk had the means to develop a country house on then Molenvliet West.[3]

The original land he purchased extended toward the Krukut River to the west, the dike of the Molenvliet to the east, and Kampung Bali to the south. Construction of the house is presumed to start as soon as the land had been purchased.[1] de Klerk employed many employees for his new estate of non-Dutch and even non-Christians people, including slaves. At the time of de Klerk's death, the estate had two wings, wash-house, warehouse, slave quarters, kitchen corner, stables and carriage houses, and a residence for the coachmen and the guards, as well as a rear building with many rooms. More than a hundred slaves worked and lived in the mansion, sixteen among them formed a band of musicians and entertained their master and guests at night. The house was inherited to Francois R. Radermacher, Sophia's son from her earlier marriage.[4]

Under the last will of Sophia in 1785, more than 50 slaves were emancipated and given some money to start their freedom. Other slaves bought their emancipation. The rest of the slaves, roughly a hundred, were auctioned off together with their wives and children on January 28, 1786, in front of de Klerk's house. In the same year, Radermacher sold the property to another member of the Council of the Indies, Johannes Siberg.[4]

Siberg eventually became a Governor-General between 1801 and 1805, and stayed in the house during the French and English period (1808-1816). After Siberg's death in 1817, the house was auctioned off by his widow, and it was bought by Lambert Zegers Veeckens in 1818.[1][4]

Veeckens wanted to sold the house off again. In 1819, the estate of de Klerk was bought by Leendert Miero. Miero, born in 1755 in Grodka near Lemberg (now Lviv), arrived in Batavia in 1775 to work for the Dutch East India Company. He is actually a Polish Jew whose real name is Jehoede Leip Jegiel Igel.[5] He hid his true identity because the Dutch East India Company prohibited the Jews from travelling to its holdings, especially its new headquarters in Batavia. In 1777, Igel was received by de Klerk in the mansion and served as a low-ranked security guard for the mansion.[1][6] A story goes that on a hot day Jehoeve fell asleep while guarding the entrance. When de Klerk unexpectedly returned, he was given 50 strokes for his laziness. On that same day, he swore that he would own the estate one day. After finishing his military service, Jehoeve changed his name to Leendert Miero and worked as a goldsmith. Despite being illiterate, he was able to made a fortune and bought the estate of Pondok Gede. Miero was able to reveal his identity when the VOC agreed to include Jews in its ranks in 1782. In the end, he bought the house of de Klerk. For the next 15 years, Miero invited big crowds to celebrate the anniversary of his lashing day, celebrated with a biblical humor.[1] Miero married to two legal wives but he had no children. Instead, he adopted four natural children born to him by four different slaves.[4]

Following the death of Miero on May 10, 1834,[4] the house continued to be inhabited by Leendert's heirs until it was sold again in 1844 to the College of Deacons at the Dutch Reformed Church. It was converted as an orphanage until 1990 and suffered many alterations, such as addition of a Greek-style chapel in the front facade. In 1901, the colonial government acquired the building and made it the office of the Mining Department. The Greek-style chapel was demolished to restore the original facade of de Klerk's mansion.[4]

In 1925, major restoration took place. Its pleasure garden was landscaped once more. The building is then converted into the State Archive (Landsarchief). It remained an Archive Building following the independence of Indonesia.[4]

In 1974, the National Archives of Indonesia moved to Jalan Ampera Selatan in South Jakarta because the old building was deemed not appropriate for archives. After the transfer was completed in 1979, the house was no longer used by the national archives and began to deteriorate. The paint peeled off and many ornaments are broken.[4]

In 1995, some Jakarta-based Dutch companies founded the Stichting Cadeau Indonesia (“Indonesia Foundation prize”) and collected money as a gift for the 50th anniversary of Indonesian Independence with the intention of restoring the mansion. A memorandum was signed during the visit of Queen Beatrix who have a reception in this building. Despite the initial preparation, no realistic proposals were made by the National Archives of Indonesia, so in order to prevent further damage, the house was restored starting from 1997. Restoration was done to the highest standard, including restoration of the damaged drainage system which caused flooding around the mansion. The restoration was complete on November 1, 1998.[4]

In the same year on May 13, during the restoration process, a nation-wide riot broke out. A bank building next door to the National Archives Building was burned to the ground by the mobs, forcing the employees to seek shelter into the still-restored National Archives Building. When the mobs followed them, about 80 workmen who were still employed for the building's restoration chased them away.[7]

Building

Interior of the National Archives Building.

The National Archive Building is an archetypal Dutch Indies country houses of the 18th-century. The style of its architecture is classified as the earliest style of the Indies Style, the Dutch Style (Nederlandse stijl). It is a period when Dutch-style houses had not completely adapted to the tropical climate of the Dutch East Indies.

The National Archive Building is a two-storeyed houses of almost exact replicas of its Dutch counterpart. The Dutch influence can be seen in the hipped roof, closed and solidly built facade, and high windows. The only concession to the tropical climate is the relatively large roof overhang compared with the original Dutch country houses.[8] Also, unlike their Dutch counterparts, the National Archive Building contains an extensive ancillary quarters at the rear of the house to accommodate the large number of slaves to accommodate the wealthy lifestyle of the residents.[8] It also had godowns for the storage of goods acquired through private trading ventures.[8]

The interior of the National Archive Building was similar to a typical Dutch landhuis, however there are significant differences. The National Archive Building has taller ceiling and larger windows than a typical Dutch landhuis. It also has a brighter ambient; another consideration for the tropics.[8] The door is topped with wooden carvings of Allegories.

The building is surrounded with spacious pleasure garden. The original plot of the building was 27,000 m2, reduced to 9,000 m2. The rear garden contains a belfry.[9]

Collection

The building kept several historic VOC period items, among them are 17th-century ebony furniture. The secretary bird, de Klerk’s coat of arms, is a recurring motif around the building.

The first-floor exhibits a collection of maps dating from 1541. There are dining chairs and a dining table from VOC period.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 de Haan 1922, pp. 72-6.
  2. 1 2 Akihary 1990, p. 11.
  3. ↑ Taylor 1983, p. 204.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Messakh 2008.
  5. ↑ Genealogie van de Familie Miero Meijer
  6. ↑ Miero, Leendert
  7. ↑ "A Shared Inheritance: Gedung Arsip Nasional". Kabar Indonesia. Kabar Media. January 4, 2009. Archived from the original on November 12, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Gill 1998, p. 110.
  9. ↑ Gemeentemuseum Helmond 1990, pp. 7-11.

Cited works

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